“HOT”
That’s the headline of a famous ad written by Joe Sugarman some time back in the 1970’s.
The ad was for a membership program called Consumers Hero — basically a mail-order catalogue of refurbished goods such as clock radios and digital watches.
Sugarman used the “HOT” concept to suck people in — the idea was that this stuff was so cheap that it was basically like stealing from the manufacturers.
And that’s not the only clever idea in this piece of copy.
For example, there’s also how old Joe addressed an objection that the reader was sure to have earlier on. The objection being:
“Sure, the refurbished clock radio might be cheap, but isn’t it junk?”
To which Joe says, of course it is!
In fact, as Joe walks you through Consumers Hero and its service, he uses the phrase “lousy rotten” six times to describe their merchandise. At one point, he even refers to it as “garbage.”
This is something that famed negotiation coach Jim Camp used to call the “negative stripline.””
In effect, it’s when you take a more negative position that the person you’re negotiating with (or selling to).
This disarms much of your adversary’s negativity.
And it can even cause him to try to bring you to a more neutral position.
“Lousy rotten garbage? It can’t be that bad! Tell me more about it, and I’ll see if I want one.”
And of course, Joe does tell you. All about how the money and care that goes into refurbishing the lousy rotten clock radio, into testing it, and in making sure that you’re perfectly satisfied when you get it and use, including a five-year warranty.
So what’s the point?
If your prospects are sure to have an objection, don’t shy away from it.
Beat them to it.
And even make a joke out of it.
And then, end on a less negative note. Such as:
If you have lousy rotten garbage on your hands (just kidding!) and you’re trying to offload it onto your customers, you might like the email marketing lessons found here: